Researchers use new experimental method to probe spin structure in 2D materials for first time
Researchers from Brown University, Michigan State University, Columbia University, Sandia National Laboratories in the U.S, Japan's National Institute for Materials Science and Austria's University of Innsbruck have observed low-energy collective excitations in twisted bilayer graphene near the magic angle, using a resistively detected electron spin resonance technique.
For many years, scientists have been trying to directly manipulate the spin of electrons in 2D materials like graphene. Doing so could yield key advances in the world of 2D electronics, a field where super-fast, small and flexible electronic devices carry out computations based on quantum mechanics. Standing in the way is that the typical way in which scientists measure the spin of electrons — an essential behavior that gives everything in the physical universe its structure — usually doesn’t work in 2D materials. This makes it incredibly difficult to fully understand the materials and propel forward technological advances based on them. But a team of scientists led by Brown University researchers believe they now have a way around this longstanding challenge.